A parking system has a direct impact on the conversion rate of your business.
While the above statement may come as a shock to you, it still has some truth in it. Whether you own a commercial space in a building or a small e-commerce store, having a separate parking space is key to welcoming more customers. With a constant rise in the number of vehicles, offering parking spaces to all of your customer’s cars may be a little challenging.
Fortunately, AI has stepped foot into almost every industry today, and the parking system is one such business. You can bid farewell to parking space problems by using efficient and intelligent parking systems. Imagine a customer driving up to your store only to find himself irritated due to a parking spot unavailability. They may choose to return home without making a purchase.
Hence, managing parking is one of the crucial components of a successful offline business. If you haven’t already thought of switching to intelligent parking systems, consider this article as your cue. Whether you own a small store or an extensive showroom, your business needs a parking system to stay in the game. After all, you don’t want your customers to leave your store before entering, right?
You may find yourself in a pickle if you are new to this concept of intelligent parking systems. The article explains six critical stages of developing a parking system to address them in detail. So, let’s get to it.
Architecture & Stages Of Smart Parking Management System Development
- Parking Sensors
The parking sensors’ role is to track parking lot space. Ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the presence of vehicles.
- Processing Unit
The processor-on-a-chip is a central point between the sensors and the cloud platforms, relaying data to and from.
- Mobile Application
End users can engage with the smart parking system through a visual interface.
- The Cloud
All information about parking places and system users’ access is stored in the cloud.
5 Key stages to developing a Parking System
Now that you know the importance of parking systems and how it impacts your business, it’s time to go one step deeper and understand the stages in detail. Below-mentioned are step-wise stages of developing a parking system.
- Create a business plan for the system
You need to create a blueprint of the Parking system for your business to develop an efficient system. The system is divided primarily into two types as per their complexity – basic and advanced. However, creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with some basic features is the most common. If your business requires more features, you can use an advanced Parking System with unique features and functionalities.
Below mentioned are some things you should consider while creating the plan:
- Do you need an intelligent Parking System? If so, why?
- What challenges is your business facing currently?
- Do you want to update your system or develop one from scratch?
- What features do you want your design to have?
- Do you also wish various payment options to be imbibed in the system?
- Do you also want a mobile application or a website? Why?
Once you answer these questions, you will have a direction to follow. Then you can begin with the implementation part.
- Research the competitors
Competitive research is vital in understanding why customers purchase from their competitors. Whether you are into the Fashion business or are to develop a parking system, knowing your competitors lets you know if you need to make some amends in your product or are keeping up with the trending features.
When researching, you know whether your competitors use a semi-automated or fully automated parking system. You can learn how other business customers respond to these systems and make changes in yours if need be. It will help you stay ahead of the game in your product and get a fair idea of whether you are on track in your marketing game.
- Hire experts to develop the system
Hiring the best developers to develop a parking system is a must. Since creating a parking system requires hardware and software knowledge, you need developers with a good grasp of both these aspects. So do your research and hire those with experience with developing intelligent systems.
Moreover, look for developers who are not only interested in coding out your application but are collaborators as well. If you hire experienced developers, their inputs will add value, and they can help you develop an application that is efficient and has advanced features.
- Consider the design of your app
A parking system consists of many segments, from locating empty parking spots to incorporating multiple payment systems, so designing your application before implementation is essential. You need to have a blueprint of the application that should include everything from the color contrast you want to the layout, number of pages, etc.
Plus, if you wish to develop mobile and web applications, you should have designs for both. Since the parking lot has multiple levels and each level has numerous rows of spots, you need to design for each level. Depending on the type of vehicles, space of the spots, etc., the design for your app differs. So consider these parameters and create a blueprint of the app design.
- Consider incorporating advanced features
Incorporating features that do not exist in the current parking systems is a sure shot at making your design stand out. For instance, if most of your competitors use a semi-automated parking system, this is your shot at developing an IOT-based system. Semi-automated systems require human effort, while fully automated do not.
Let’s say your competitors use a parking system that detects hidden parking spots but has no payment system incorporated. So you can take advantage of this situation by including a payment system in your parking system. These differences between you and your competitors can make you unique and may attract more customers.
- Update the system regularly
You may have developed the parking system with all the required features. However, it will soon be out of the system if you fail to update it regularly. You not only need to keep a check on the latest updates in the system but also keep a tab on your competitors. Monitor and analyze your competitors. It will help you know what amends you need to make in your design or marketing strategies.
Also, timing to research your competitors is critical. For instance, if you are developing a parking system from scratch, the intensity of your study would be more generic than when you are upgrading your system. So, thorough research about a particular feature and generic research about the overall design is equally important.
While you need to keep checking for the latest features in the industry from time to time to keep your services current and competitive, you should also know when to conduct in-depth research.
A advanced flowchart for the IoT based smart parking
Applications of Smart Parking Systems using IoT
- The seamless flowing of traffic
- Energy efficiency can be improved
- Encouragement of greater citizen engagement
- Cities can be made safer
Other Tech Options for Smart Parking System
- Ultrasonic sensors
- Electromagnetic field sensors
- Infrared sensors (IR sensor)
Wrapping up 6 stages of developing a Parking System
Hopefully, the article helped you understand each stage of developing a parking system for your business. Follow these steps to create a system that aligns with your business and budget requirements.
While devising a plan to develop a parking system is essential, do not underplay other significant aspects of your business. For instance, if you own a fashion store and are still figuring out basics like inventory storage space or are still coming up with a range of products, etc., this is not the right stage to think about a parking system. It is vital to know the right time to think about the parking system and implement it at the right time.
